Advance Vermont asks Senate committee for $600,000 to expand career‑navigation tools

Advance Vermont asked the Senate Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs committee on the record to consider roughly $600,000 in state support to expand MyFutureVT, a statewide education‑planning hub, and to scale a 'graduate with a plan' navigator program that trains trusted adults to help students map post‑secondary pathways.

Tom, a representative of Advance Vermont, framed the work as a statewide career‑navigation effort “so every Vermonter should be able to pursue and navigate a career and education path that meets their goals,” and said the program combines an online tool, a credential database and in‑school navigator training.

Why it matters: Advance Vermont argued that K–12 systems and postsecondary options have grown more complex and that many students lack consistent, coached planning. Tom said MyFutureVT now lists roughly 950 education and training programs statewide and that a recent user survey found strong, self‑reported outcomes: “Pretty much every question you put to them said this thing is working.” He also said exact unique‑user counts are difficult to verify because of bot traffic but estimated engagement in the “tens of thousands.”

What Advance Vermont asked for: The group requested sustained state funding to support two main efforts—maintaining and improving MyFutureVT and fully staffing and delivering the navigator training and planning toolkit. Tom described the current ask as “in the neighborhood of $600,000 to really do that right,” noting last year’s state support was $150,000 and past grants have been as high as $350,000.

Committee reaction: Senators and committee members praised the program’s goals but urged caution on scale and accountability. Multiple members asked for clearer reach and impact metrics, and for a plan to measure return on investment before endorsing a significant increase in state funding. A senator told the presenter that moving from $150,000 to $600,000 in a single year is “a heavy, heavy lift” and asked for specifics on how many students and adults the proposal would directly reach.

Partnerships and implementation: Tom said Advance Vermont is a nonprofit with two full‑time and one part‑time staff and that the organization collaborates with the Agency of Education, the Department of Labor and the Office of Workforce Development. He described an advisory committee that includes the Department of Labor commissioner and Agency of Education staff, and said the Agency of Education has been supportive of aligning personalized learning plans with the proposed framework.

What’s next: Committee members asked Advance Vermont to provide detailed budget breakdowns, enrollment/reach metrics and evaluation results; the presenter offered to return with the evaluation and illustrative stories. The committee paused for a break after requesting those materials.

The committee did not vote on funding during the session; members signaled support for the concept but requested additional evidence and a clearer budget before altering the state appropriation.